The projects that Global Site Performance has been invited to create over the next two years are very exciting to us. These projects exemplify not only our passions, but also the areas of the world in which we want to move. We are interested in building ongoing cross-cultural relationships between women of multiple ethnicities. We desire to create beauty and wholeness, to make dances that are community-based, and to create multi-community events that affirm the power of women, for it is the women who weave together the fabric of the family and community.
- June 21, 2008: Solstice River XII: Bridging the Cycles of Life
- October 2008: Palestinian-Israeli Project
- May 15, 2009: Canterbury Cathedral
Solstice River XII: Bridging the Cycles of Life June 21, 2008 – 8 p.m.
Come out onto the Stone Arch Bridge to be part of the 12th annual celebration of the Mississippi River. This year Solstice River acknowledges the life cycles of bridges and humans. The Stone Arch Bridge had its beginning 125 years ago and the 35W bridge had its ending last August. The performance will be a tribute to the 13 individuals who lost their lives in the 35W bridge collapse. The intention is to help the community heal. When words aren't enough, dance allows a deeper connection to that part of the experience that isn't verbal and creates an opportunity for people to honor and grieve together.
This event weaves together the man-made wonders of downtown Minneapolis with the world of nature. There will be dancers on the dike of the lock, the banks and mooring cells, high up on the grain silos and the Guthrie and on the St. Anthony Falls Hydrology lab. A bevy of kayaks will pirouette for the audience. At the conclusion of the performance, the audience is invited to participate in the "Blue Highway", during which a 1200-foot length of blue fabric is unfurled across the Stone Arch Bridge by a Park Board jeep.
The music, written especially for the dance at this site, was composed by J. David Moore. Solstice River XII is presented by the Center for Global Environmental Education at Hamline University; and is held in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the University of Minnesota's St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, the Mill City Museum and the Guthrie Theater.
The Stone Arch Bridge is approached from the downtown Minneapolis side at West River Road and Portland Avenue; from the east side of the river, the approach is from 6th Avenue SE and Main Street. The site is wheelchair accessible.
October 2008: Palestinian-Israeli Project
Plans are underway to create a performance in Acre in October 2008. Program Consultant Jenny Moore and Artistic Director Marylee Hardenbergh traveled to Israel and Palestine in November-December 2007 and researched four possible sites. It is Hardenbergh's fondest wish to create performances in all sights eventually.
May 2009: Canterbury Cathedral
Invitation to create a performance for those with dementia and their caregivers to be performed in the Cathedral in England. To prepare for the performances in Canterbury and Jerusalem, we will visit the sites, recruit local dancers, and find a local composer. (Image taken by Marylee Hardenbergh on a reconnaissance trip.)